AFC Champions League (Knockout Stage, Quarter final, 1st Leg)

Al Duhail (Qatar) - Persepolis (Iran)

Date: 28/08/2018 (Tuesday)

Time: 16:30 (London); 11:30 (New York), 23:30 (Beijing), 01:30 (Sydney)

Venue: Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar

Al Duhail has won for seven matches in a row since group stage, while today they are going to face previous year’s semi-finalist Persepolis.

Al Duhail has defeated Al Ain of UAE in the Round of 16, while Persepolis has defeated Al Jazira of UAE.

In the match versus Al Ain of UAE, Al Duhail has scored eight goals  across the two legs, in which we could experience the incredible attacking strategy of Al Duhail. They have already scored 21 goals throughout this year tournament, just behind Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors with 26 goals.

Persepolis conceded four goals in the two legs against Al Jazira. A 3-2 defeat in Abu Dhabi followed by 2-1 home win, Persepolis barely got into the Quarter Final.

Ali Alipour is the key person of Persepolis following the departure of Mehdi Taremi to Al Gharafa. He helped Persepolis win the Iran Pro League title and also captured the top goal scorer award  of the season.

Al Duhail are currently second in the QNB Stars League , justbehind Al Sadd on goal difference, with seven points after three matches. IT is not difficult to see a steady performace of Al Duhail.

But Al Duhail will not have two key players in the coming match, which are forward Ismail Mohammed and midfielder Karim Boudiaf, due to recuperation after surgery. Luckily, they still have crucial South Korean attacking midfielder Nam Tae-Hee, Moroccan spearhead Yousef El Arabi, Brazil Paolo Edmilson, young striker Almoez Ali and defender Lucas Mendes.

Above all, Al Duhail may face he most difficult match since they start to play the tournament this year. And they can still manage to win, but with a small score.

I will predict 1:0 / 2:1 for full time result, favoring Al Duhail.